December date for govt report on eviction

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

The Supreme Court has set December 4 as the deadline for the state government to act or suggest ways to solve the Bhagwat Nagar Colony deadlock.

Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) had on October 31 filed an affidavit in the court stating that it had tried to demolish the 131 illegally built structures twice but failed because of strong protests.

“Thursday’s hearing had seen the presence of chief secretary A.K. Sinha and PMC commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pal. In addition to this, the state government has been asked to present the status of the work done in the same connection within two weeks,” said Saroj Kant Tripathy, the president of the Adarsh, Bhagwat, Jai Prakash Nagar Makaan Bachao Sangharsh Samiti.

On October 17, the administrative machinery had failed to enter the Bhagwat Nagar Colony in spite of the presence of a strong police force and senior officers like Patna SSP Amrit Raj, city SP Jayant Kant, DM Sanjay Kumar Singh and PMC commissioner Pal.

“We are not going to vacate our homes under any circumstances. If the government wants to evict us and demolish our homes, it has to do it by using force and we will fight back. We are not going to change our stand. The protest in the colony is still on,” Tripathy added.